i have found meaning

J.W. Anderson's SS11 collection lifechangingly came to my attention via Maddie and I think I have finally found everything I ever want to be, that is to say, compiled of and exuding perfect hippie/Weetzie Bat/teen angst/murky/good ugly/bittersweet/ladies of the canyon/witch vibes. The thrown togetheredness of various references suggest that every piece was picked up at a different stop on a road trip or were homemade and have been happily lived in. Matching up such different textures and prints seems random but each layer serves a purpose, preventing the styling from getting sloppy, and details like the skirt pleats keep the pieces from teetering into easily-found-in-thrift-stores territory.

It reminds me a lot of this hippie goddess girl I saw in the hall the other day wearing a long black velvet dress and clogs and a woven backpack and I really wanted to know what she was doing in school because it was obvious that she should've been traveling in a painted van or something, but at least this way I'll probably see her again and will have the opportunity to ask if she'll carry me around in her backpack and let me smell her hair, whose scent I imagine is probably a cross between jasmine and hibiscus with a dash of mint. I think the odds of her letting me be in her painted van club are even more in my favor if I tell her that last part!

joel sternfeld


of the holy blood


1976 crochet


still from proenza schouler's the patent ps1


gabriel orozco and a page from my journal with the lyrics to "old age" by hole glittered on it


grace miceli


frida kahlo's sun and life

candy store cat lady

Lady Miss Kier's ring game channeled through blue plastic thrifted belt and Goody daisy hairclips, the Edward Scissorhands (yes, this is a constant reference for me) neighborhood channeled through the hand-me-down skirt, Twiggy & clones sweater game channeled through sweater dress from PollySue's Vintage, and librarian cat channeled through purse I got as a gift and I Love This Kitty pin from artenergyalchemy on Etsy.

The shoes are a combination of all, and were sent to me by Kron by KronKron. By KronKron by KronKronKron. Kron.

Pros: Bows! RUFFLED SUEDE! All fun and girly but not vomitly so, thanks to the color palette. Surprisingly walkable, and they're even too big for me.
Cons: I'd prefer a platform whose color doesn't feel so random in relation to the others.

Unfortunately I had to opt for more walkable shoes when I wore this outfit to my friend's play last night, because LOOKY:

It's so pretty! Sure, the walking-to-school-at-7:30-A.M. version of me might beg to differ, and oh, you know, throw her backpack down in a fit of rage every few steps or so, but look at how it glimmers from just the right angles!

I'm way too into artenergyalchemy, which is where I got this little glitter cat. Good thing my ears aren't pierced or it'd be an easy way to go broke. Though maybe I could self-pierce them with the Jack Nicholson Shining ones, and blood would gush out of my ears due to my insanitary job, but it would look cool because then it would just drip off the sides of the tiny axe charms as though it had just finished off the family!

What? Something about blood and murders? That wasn't me! Divert your attention and stop getting suspicious! Look, a cat! I hear you like those on the Internet!

he believes in beauty

I had Bjork and Gwen on the mind yesterday morning. (Better quality of Venus here but the embedding is disabled, grumble grumble.)
Bindis, braids, t-shirts, semi-sportiness, something slightly off kilter. Also, how lifechanging are both of these songs and videos?

Thrifted Gap tee, mesh marshmallow (meshmallow?) Comme des Garcons skirt from last year's Barney's Warehouse Sale, and Jil Sander sandals (Jil Sandals?) for the sportiness, and a tiny sweater (hand-me-downed) just seemed necessary. The bindi came from a set I got for Jul (this kind) a few years ago. Unfortunately I had to wear boots instead of sandals to school. That's funny, weather! I don't remember granting you permission to shed your dandruff all over my beloved fall leaves! It was pretty perfect for the first night of Hanukkah, however.

My friends told me the patch is from Girl Scouts but I wouldn't remember because I was a horrible Brownie and really lazy and would just ask my parents to buy a couple boxes of Thin Mints and then feel disappointed in myself when the other girls proudly accepted their CD holder wall-hangings and I was stuck with a dopey stuffed animal. I still have that stuffed animal. And probably the Thin Mints, somewhere, too.

Seriously though -- Brownie patch on a sweater!! Why didn't I think of that? I need to find my sash and rip off all those bowling patches. That was the other thing I did as a Brownie.
The ladies at Pamflet (which I've written about before here) had a bit on the Just a Girl video in the new issue which I happily received in the mail in the other day. More favorites bits of mine are on boys not crying, nuns and nuns in culture, vanity, indie boys-to-men, and, yeah, a spread on fashion bloggers, and I'm in it, but I genuinely like the issue! Nuns and vanity! Looks like it's going to be their last issue for a while but they'll keep fighting the good fight online. Still, I recommend a print issue. It's barely $3 and you can buy it on their site.

sleeping beauty

Ugly nature and the supernatural were displayed at Chris Habana's SS11 presentation and I was obviously smitten. My favorite pieces, like the gold nails necklace and thorns bracelets, were the ones that looked less like jewelry and more like randomly found bits of ugly nature themselves. Some fancy cubic shape happenings helped to modernize the rest of the collection but I don't think it was necessary, as those really felt like shiny new jewelry and mildly disrupted the old and dusty vibe that the other pieces had. The combinations of pearls, chains, and crosses brought to mind a much darker Sleeping Beauty, like these pieces had been locked in an attic and got all possessed by spirits and the like.

speak for me, do you see the same signs?

Today's outfit was built around my milkmaid braids because it's the only way to wear my hair without looking stupid because I cut my bangs too short when I was really bored on Saturday. I'm surprised at how much fun I'm having with it though, it looks cool with bindis and with eye makeup like the dots I did today.

After that I was inspired by a bunch of scattered Japanese street style photos I have in my head, the sunny suburbia in Edward Scissorhands (photo 3) and this Jamie Nelson for Elle Mexico shot (photo 6), and dishevelment and stuffiness of the late 90s (pictured here: Margiela, Comme des Garcons) and especially the way Mark Borthwick captured it. The rest of the pictures here are scanned from his book, which is seriously really beautiful and one of the most special things I own. And throughout the whole thing are his writings which sound all stream of consciousness and are really inspiring.

And at school today I got Princess Leia, "someone who would own a farm called the Aw, Shucks! Cherry Farm", and this lovely drawing:

These Goody barrettes are maybe my favorite thing:

My friend grew out of these old Jil Sander shoes and I was happy to take them off her hands. They're the same color as crosswalk stripes so walking around is really a delight.
For you fashionistas who need to know where one finds such a fashionable fridge, it's from Sears about 15 fashion-filled years ago. And if you are wondering about the stylish magnets, you will be sorely and un-stylishly disappointed to learn that they are one-of-a-stylin'-kinds made by style-possessing elementary schoolers many years ago and are not for sale. Style. Fashion. Fashion. I'm tired.

Hand-me-down dark blue dress and light blue slip, Old Navy flowered tank top.


The shirt was sent to me for review by beso.com. I ordered it a size larger because Comme des Garcons smalls are usually too small on me but this one is too big so yo, Comme, work out your sizing nonsense.

Brand: Junya Watanabe
Pros: The flowers are somewhere between botanical illustration and cartoon daisy, allowing for more versatility. The holes make it more fun to style and it makes it different than something you could find in a thrift store. Asymmetry is also obviously awesome. And it's comfortable and I kept forgetting I was wearing something nice.
Cons: That green! Just gimme a couple pigments lighter! Right now it's wavering between light and dark, and it looks like the most basic kind of Crayola green, which is so boring that they give it to you with kids' menus at restaurants. And you could say that makes it more versatile, but not necessarily because basic green doesn't call for many other good colors. Plus I feel like gingham should be in pastels.

I'm writing all choppy because I'm reading Girl by Blake Nelson at the moment and it's hard to get out of a writing style when all you've been doing is reading it because you've been bored and your bangs could only take so much cutting.

gold dust woman

Lately I've taken to creating real life moodboards out of the random junk I have on this table in my room. It bums me out that today is Black Friday because I'm not ready to let go of witchy vibes for fall but my high tolerance for the cold will be taken advantage of when it's at 10 degrees and I just want to wear ghost coats all the time.

This one is supposed to be a little cosmic and explorer-y and dusty. As always, it makes sense in my head.

Clockwise from up left: Yes, Rivkah, that is your tambourine. Yoshitomo Nara doll from his cafe in Tokyo (a year ago! Life is weird). Random box which houses my glitter glue. Guatemalan worry dolls. Yes, Rivkah, those are your optical illusion cards. Special journals. Romance Was Born headband sent to me by the folks there. Visually appealing book about deserts from a house-turned-book shop in Michigan. I Love Factory headband also sent to me by the folks there. Thrifted sun brooch. Stevie Nicks' Bella Donna. Grandma's old brooch. Random rock with fortune teller ring on top. Gara Danielle ring. Christian Sampson orange thing from Two Bridges Trading. Jamaican mask. Toothfairy box from Arizona. And all that stuff is sitting on a botanical illustrations booklet. And hanging above them is my New Orleans voodoo charm and a dreamcatcher.